"Wesker is a three-piece high-energy rock band from Youngstown, OH.

They blend driving guitars, heavy drumming, catchy lyrics and just plain rock to form their sound into a tight woven, fast paced, high energy delivery." - My Space.

First of all, what has the band been up to recently?

Dave - We just recorded an acoustic ep. We've also been writing a lot. Haven't been as active as I'd like to be show-wise, but that parts coming soon.

Eric - We just finished up recording our Acoustic E.P. Which was fun, and right now we’re booking shows, playing shows and writing new material.

Chris - We took a short break late 2004 into the first two months of 2005 to write and record an acoustic EP. After that was finished we played a few acoustic shows to promote the record and are currently going to book some more acoustic shows. We have also been writing a lot of newer material and fine tuning that during our practices.

How would you describe your music?

Dave - I like to say high energy rock.

Eric - I’d describe us as a rock band. With punk influence, a small pop influence and our songs are catchy with driving beats, appealing vocals and good hooks.

Our music could be labeled pop-punk but I would consider our sound to be more “rock” driven. Most of our songs are aggressive with the occasional poppy hook or chorus. Our sound is a huge culmination of our influences.

The media influencing young people is a big issue at the moment. How much of an influence do you think music has on today's youth? What kind of influence does it have?

Dave - Today music has a huge influence on youth. Not so much on their actions, but as far as their acceptance. It seems like young kids anymore try so hard to be "scene" and they're actually building their lives around the music they listen to. Music is definitely influencing dress and how they're viewing others that may like the same music as they do, but don't dress the part. It seems that the youth of today are much more clique-ish than young kids normally are, and it seems like 90% of the cliques are created around different types of music.

Eric - Music, I believe, is the greatest influence for people, next to something like religion of course to an extent. Using myself for example, I live to play music, write music and listen to music. What the songs are about that people write have a heavy affect on the listeners.

Chris - I think music today has an incredible amount of influence among young people. Music today influences kids to do something, I think. Kids aren’t just listening to records and cd’s anymore they are actively going to concerts both on a national and local level to support artists. Instead of getting involved with things like violence and the like, kids are out supporting what they love.

Do you ever try and get messages across to your fans in your music, or try to persuade them to think a certain way?

Chris - Not really. I don’t know Dave you answer this one… I don’t think we put out the message… except for the occasional “you know, you can fit a fist almost anywhere now a day’s”

Dave - Not really. We're not writing songs to change the world. There aren't life messages in our music. They're mostly about girls, but then there's the occasional 'hang in there, things will be ok' one. But as a whole, we're up there to rock, not preach anything. Don't get me wrong, we believe in things, and sometimes that will come out live. Before the election, I made it known who I was voting for, but that opinion wasn't getting shoved down anybody's throat. It was just kinda thrown out there.

I'd say the closest I get to trying to get messages out or persuade a certain way of thinking is by wearing a band's t-shirt. I wear shirts of bands I like that people may not have heard of. If you like my band, check out this band on my shirt. Chances are, you'll dig em. That's as close as I come. And that's all very subtle.

Eric - I’m not so much trying to tell people or force them to think a certain way, or make them believe in a particular ideology through our songs. I’m more so trying to convey to the listeners images, events and feelings from my life that people can relate to. I always felt I enjoyed a song more when I totally knew what the lyrics were saying. It gives the song personality and it gives the song character. If there are messages hidden amongst these “stories” I’m not trying to do so. Who knows though, we all grow as people and as songwriters, and we never know what I will be writing about in the future.

Have you ever experienced conflict as a result of dressing a certain way/listening to a certain music/being a part of a certain group? If so, what form did this conflict take?

Dave - I haven't personally experienced it. But I know a lot of younger kids today are going through that everyday. Things are much more clique-ish now than when i was 13-14. There was no "scene." Everybody's trying to be more "scene" than everybody else. I don't get involved with it, cause luckily I'm too old to fully understand exactly what "scene" is.

Eric - When I was younger, I’d listen to a lot of punk and hardcore music. It seemed more listening to that style of music then was not as accepted amongst a lot of people as it is now. I know liking a certain band or style of music meant that you had a certain status about you. The punk kids, the metal kids, the hip-hop kids, the country kids, everyone was different. Today you see a wide range of people going to shows. Which I’m totally down for, it’s cool to know that people have respect and enjoy all types of music. It never really affected me to a conflict level though.

Chris - I have never personally experienced conflict because of the way I dressed or who I was a apart with. Although I am sure some kids have, I haven’t personally experienced it.

Have you ever been to a show/gig (either one of your own or someone else’s) where violence has broken out? Why do you think this violence starts?

Dave - Yeah, plenty. Never our shows, but I've been to plenty. Mostly heavy shows. I know they happen at all types of shows. I'm not negatively stereotyping metal shows. Those are just the only ones I've personally experienced violence at.

A lot of people are into music to escape. They go to a show to let all their problems go and just get into it. But a lot of people can't let things go. They get bumped once, or looked at the wrong way, then all of a sudden all their problems are right back.

Music is very emotional. Not just playing it. But listening to it and watching it live. I believe every emotion is escalated while at a show. And that's not always a good thing in a small, crowded area.

Eric - I’ve been in some pretty rowdy mosh pits, but nothing really where violence has erupted. There have been some local shows where people have broken lights, ceiling tiles, walls and I even heard a case at some metal show where someone broke their arm. That’s scary to me because people want to go to a show, get caught up in the music and not have to worry about getting smacked in the head with a beer bottle.

Chris - Yes. I attended a local show a long while back. The last band has just started playing and there was a mosh pit going on. At that time, mosh pits were huge. Well, a few kids took it too far and start punching people and basically a 30 person fight broke out, chairs got broken, walls got dented, etc etc, cops, etc…

I think violence starts because someone or a few people take their outlet too far. you need to know what behavior is acceptable and unacceptable and if you cross the line what will happen. I think there are kids and adults that just don’t think twice about it.

People are represented / stereotyped in a certain way for the way they dress. Does this 'labelling' also happen to people for the kind of music they listen to? What are your opinions on this?

Dave - Absolutely. I think anymore, they go hand in hand. I think the way kids dress is directly related to the kind of music they're into. They know this. You can walk around the mall and look at the teens and pretty much be able to guess at a successful rate what they listen to based on how they dress. Same with bands. A lot of times you can know what a band sounds like just by how they're dressed. It's sad. It sounds shallow. But it's true. Sure, there's the exceptions. But they're pretty few.

Eric - I kind of hit on this earlier. People, for the most part, I think dress as a group for what kind of music they’re into. So maybe the music they listen to coincides with how they dress, or maybe not.

Chris - Yes, you have your stoners, your punks, the alternative kids, the preps, the teenie-boppers, there is a stereotype for pretty much any genre.

I think stereotypes are passé and need to be done away with fast. Anymore instead of admitting a stereotype people get offended and could start violence. I think you should be able to dress how you want and listen to whatever you want without the fear of being labeled in a bad way. Freedom is freedom whether it is in your clothing style or what you do to your hair.

What kind of music are you into at the moment? Any favourite bands?

Dave - I've always been a rock man. I listen to a lot of music. Rival Schools is still top in my book. Alkaline Trio and The Cure are up there too. Currently I'm really diggin Snow Patrol. The Lost Patrol and Mae still get a lot of play too. And of course it's always a good time to throw in an old At The Drive In or Refused cd. Vanilla Sky is very badass too. And the new Acceptance cd is mind blowing. Other than that, it's been hard for me recently to get excited about new bands. I don't know if I've just become more jaded, or because bands just aren't as good anymore. I guess time will tell.

Eric - Right now I listen to all kinds of music from The Beach Boys, to Silverchair, to The Beatles, to MxPx, to Slipknot to The Go-Go’s. Some of my favorite bands are, the bands listed above of course; The Starting Line, Goldfinger, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Weezer, Mest, etc…

Chris - I am into a lot of alternative/new wave/punk/industrial music. Some of my favorite bands include the smashing pumpkins, the starting line, mxpx, nine inch nails, say hi to your mom, the long whispers, beck, and on and on and on. I could write a book with the artists I like.

What has the band got planned next?

Dave - We'll let ya know when we find out. There's talk of some recording. But there for sure will be lots of shows and more and more new songs on their way. No real plan right now, but we're workin on it.

Eric - We’re booking shows, putting together new merch to sell and writing new songs and practicing them as much as we can. Talks are coming up now regarding our next full-length album, which we hope to have done in the near future sometime. We’re keeping busy pretty busy.

Chris - We have new merchandise on its way and are going to be booking a lot of upcoming shows. We are also tossing around the idea of going into the studio to record a few songs and possibly put that out as another EP. More than likely, this would be the last EP we would do and would then begin the work on a full length. This is all hypothetical of course.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add or promote?

Dave - Not really. Just visit us on the web at www.weskerrocks.com and www.myspace.com/wesker. we love being visited.

Eric - If you haven’t’ got your very own copy of our Acoustic E.P. Come Home Early go to www.weskerrocks.com to make sure and get it. Also we love all our fans and if it wasn’t for us and other people enjoying our music we would have no reason to do it. We hope to see you at a show someime soon, thanks.

Thanks to all the bands and promoters who have taken part in our 'Punk and Politics' Feature!